Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) is pleased to
announce that 33 girls received their Gold Award in 2017. This is the
highest and most prestigious award in Girl Scouting, comparable to the
Boy Scouts of America’s Eagle Scout merit. Girls who pursue their Gold
Award aspire to transform an idea and vision for change into an
actionable plan with measurable, sustainable and far-reaching results.
A young woman who has earned her Gold Award has become a community
leader in the truest sense. Her accomplishments reflect outstanding
leadership and civic engagement.

To earn the Gold Award, girls spend over 80 hours working on a
project that addresses a community problem and is important to each
girl. Overall, the process usually takes 18 to 24 months and often
involves seeking in-kind donations and recruiting volunteers. For most
of these girls, this award is the culmination of more than 10 years in
the Girl Scouts. Gold Awardees distinguish themselves in the college
admission process, earn college scholarships and enter the military
one rank higher. Nationally, only about one million Girl Scouts in
grades 9-12 have earned the Gold Award or its equivalent since 1916.

“I am honored to congratulate these outstanding girls,” said Tamara
Woodbury, CEO of GSACPC. “By earning the Gold Award, Girl Scouts set
themselves apart as top achievers, and are incredible women of
confidence, courage, and character, who make the world a better place.”

The Gold Award recipients were honored at the Girl Scout High Award
Ceremony, Saturday, March 25, 2017, at The Bob & Renee Parsons
Leadership Center for Girls and Women at Camp South Mountain. It was
fitting that this should be the first event held at the Girl Scouts’
new $18 million state-of-the-art urban program center.

The 2017 Gold Awardees and their impactful projects include:

Becky B. American Flag Program Bohnker found inspiration working with her high school Booster
Club and Kiwanis Club on their American Flag Program. Residents pay a
small fee for club members to put up flags at their homes on national
holidays, and retrieve them before sundown. Becky designed a new
route to streamline the process, resulting in 75 percent less travel
time for club members.

Ellie B. Empowering Women in Crisis Bowen renovated the lobby of the Life Connections Pregnancy
Center in her community with fresh paint and new furniture. She was
helped by members of her church, the girls in her troop, and donations
from the community. She also created brochures containing information
and resources for pregnant women, and distributed them throughout the community.

Paige B. Reading for All When Brown discovered the only domestic violence shelter in her
neighborhood didn’t have reading material for the children seeking
refuge with their families, she led a community-based book drive. More
than 2,000 books were donated, allowing each child to have a book of
their own to keep when they moved away from the shelter.

Natalie C. Mini Tracks Educational Trail Campbell’s love of nature led her to rebuild an old trail at
her school to help teach elementary school students about the
environment. She created an activity book for teachers to use and
built a mini amphitheater along the trail, with benches and stools
allowing students to learn in a beautiful outdoor setting.

Jillian C. Networking for Student Government Colella’s student government experience inspired her Gold Award
project. Concerned about the lack of communication among student
councils at high schools in her community, she created a website that
allows each council to share their ideas and successes, so they can
all learn from each other. The website will also help future
councils, as the events and ideas are now documented in one location.

Allison D. Smile Daugherty was inspired to help teach young people the
importance of good oral hygiene after interning in her dentist’s
office. She provided more than 250 students with information on caring
for their teeth, as well as realistic health improving changes. She
also created and distributed informational coloring books at the
Arizona Mission of Mercy dental clinic in 2014 and 2015.

Sabrina D. Days for Girls After learning girls in Africa often stop going to school
during their menstrual cycle due to a lack of access to hygiene
products, Dickinson enlisted friends’ help to create 100 hygiene kits.
She solicited donations from the community and organized a 70-person
team to assemble the kits. She was even able to travel to Kenya to
deliver the kits and provide instructions to girls.

Dulce G. Yarn for Comfort After volunteering at a care center for Alzheimer patients,
Gariepy wanted to focus on the lack of awareness of this disease among
her peers. She created a presentation she shared with 500 Phoenix area
teenagers to show students what aging feels like with the intent of
inspiring more compassion. Gariepy and others also crocheted 50 lap
blankets she donated to hospice patients.

Emily G. Setting The Scene Gidley’s passion for art inspired her to help Trivium
Preparatory Academy’s new drama program when they didn’t have the
funds for backdrops or equipment for set design. After meeting with
community businesses to solicit material donations, she organized
volunteers to help paint the backdrops and build the sets.

Madison G. Pollination from a Different Perspective Gidley’s Gold Award project was inspired by her love of
gardening. Her project, a pollinator garden, contains native plants
that attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. Friends and family
members helped to plant the garden she designed on land donated by her
school. She also created signs and stepping stones that allow students
to see pollination up-close.

Emma G. Advanced Learning League - A.L.L.

When Green learned that children were starting school unable to hold
a pencil properly or cut with scissors due to their extensive use of
hand-held technology, her Gold Award project was born. She developed a
tutoring program focusing on early literacy and fine motor skills.
With the help of sixth to eighth-graders, she placed her program in 12
classrooms of kindergarten through second-graders, impacting more than
200 students.

Samantha G. Happy Hands Easy Tools While volunteering at a therapeutic riding facility, Green
noticed many families of special needs children couldn’t afford the
proper tools to help their children improve their sensory and fine
motor skills at home. She created simple kits, a video, and brochure
in both Spanish and English for families that show how simple
household objects can be used to develop these skills.

Ashley H. Suicide and Depression Needs Your Attention After losing her cousin to suicide three years ago, Hale was
inspired to raise awareness for suicide by organizing a suicide
awareness walk in her neighborhood. She sold t-shirts and bracelets
with a ‘bucket list” theme to bring further awareness to the issue.
She also created business cards and flyers listing suicide hotline
numbers and suicide warning signs, and distributed them in her high
school and the surrounding community

Kathlene H. GOLDen Garden of Butterflies When Hartle decided to slow the decline of Monarch butterflies,
the Chandler Parks Department stepped in to help, providing her with a
2,100-square-foot space to attract and protect migrating Monarchs. She
secured donations for plants and materials and recruited volunteers to
clear the garden, install the plants and add irrigation.

Lauren H. Model United Nations at Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies Hawks’ involvement in the Model United Nations club in high
school prompted her to start a similar club for younger students to
help them become more aware of global issues. Working with her UN
advisor and other Model UN officers, she created lesson plans and
helped teach the students how the organization operates, and how it
has an influence on people and countries.

Becky H. Junior Arts Mentoring Organization After learning the school art programs were cut due to lack of
funds, Heller created an art mentoring program that reached more than
200 elementary school students. The students were mentored by high
school students in theatre, dance, food art, choir and band. To
promote the program, Heller submitted information to the school
website and school announcements.

Kate H. Save the Owls When Howard learned that the Burrowing Owl population has been
declining due to habitat destruction, she jumped in to help. In a
nearby area where some Burrowing Owls had been relocated, she built a
split-rail fence to keep passersby away and installed signs to help
them learn more about this endangered species.

Cassidy K. Teaching ASL Noticing the lack of cohesion between hearing and deaf youth,
Knutson wanted to improve the community’s American Sign Language (ASL)
knowledge. She created a monthly program that teaches ASL to youth and
adults, with approximately 15 participants each month. She also held a
food drive that provided holiday meals for 25 families at the Phoenix
Day School for the Deaf.

Amelia L. Family Fun at AHS Pioneer Museum Lober worked with the Arizona Historical Society Pioneer Museum
in Flagstaff to help them attract new visitors and get more families
involved. To do so, she created a family-oriented program for their
annual open house held during the Flagstaff Science Festival. She also
designed a new junior curator program at the museum.

Amanda M. Miles for Mutts Molina worked with Lost Our Home Pet Foundation in Tempe to
create Miles for Mutts, a volunteer-driven program to give dogs more
exercise in order to reduce their stress and make them more adoptable.
She marketed the project to local volunteer groups, established a
pledge program and secured the donation of a treadmill for use during
the summer when dogs can’t walk on hot sidewalks.

Claire M. The Great Outdoors Mushet worked with the City of Chandler in order to lead hikes
at Veterans Oasis Park for elementary-aged children to help them enjoy
being out in nature and get them away from the computer. She also held
classes to educate the students about outdoor safety and Leave No
Trace, a program that promotes conservation.

Alexandra N. Salvage the School Supplies Neumann created Salvage the School Supplies, a program
to educate students on the importance of recycling. She set up
collection boxes and put up flyers at her school, collecting enough
supplies for 180 students. She donated these supplies to schools in
low-income areas and was also able to collect 2,550 gallons of
plastics and paper to recycle.

Serena N. Educating my Community about Local Snakes Noss worked with the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy in Scottsdale
to help alleviate the fear of snakes by providing information to keep
people safe and to encourage a greater appreciation for the reptiles.
Noss organized an informational event about snakes and created a
brochure on the 17 species that live in the preserve.

Klara O. #WearID: The Next One Could Be Me Inspired by her sister who has type 1 diabetes, Olcott decided
to increase awareness of the importance of wearing an emergency ID.
She created a Facebook page about this issue called, Wear An Emergency
ID: The Next One Could Be Me, and used her hashtag, #WearID. She was
able to reach more than 70,000 people with her message.

Sarah P. Gilbert’s Got Talent Perrin chose to raise awareness of the Gilbert Historical
Museum and help it become a multi-generational community center. She
organized an event at the museum, Gilbert’s Got Talent, which brought
people from different generations together to showcase their talents.
Six talent teams performed for an audience of 60 people. As a result,
many Gilbert residents formed new connections in the community, and
became more interested in their city and the museum.

Rachel R. Keepin’ It Clean After observing how few high school students took care of their
expensive band instruments, Rhoades created workshops and
instructional videos for middle school students showing the basics of
cleaning brass and woodwind instruments. She also devised an
assignment sheet to remind students to clean their instrument at least
once a month.

Maida R. The Chosen Ministries Entertainment Room Ruiz chose to redecorate the youth group room at her church,
making it a more comfortable place for youth to meet and interact. She
sought donations from church members and community businesses and
recruited volunteers. Ruiz also created a video for other youth groups
with suggestions on how to complete a similar project. As a result of
her efforts, more youth are using the room for meetings and simply to
enjoy playing board games and watching movies.

Rachel S.
Sunshine Acres Peace Trail After learning Sunshine Acres Children’s Home’s horse program
didn’t have a proper riding trail, Spielberger sought to build one
using the open desert. After identifying a route for the trail, she
secured donations to purchase a variety of plants and cactus to add to
its beauty. Then she added signs to help the children learn more about
the plants.

Santana T. Bracelets for Buddies To increase involvement and raise awareness for the Best
Buddies program, Thompson and her friends made and sold bracelets
featuring statements of inclusion written by Best Buddies participants
from around the world. The money raised bought plants for in-classroom
gardens that are cared for by the students in the Best Buddies program.

Rachel V. Smiles for Miles Valentine saw a way to help residents of Haiti after an
earthquake hit the country in 2010. Because so many Haitians are
impoverished and lack footwear, they pick up diseases in the rubble
and debris. To help alleviate this health concern, Valentine set up
drop-boxes for shoe donations around her community, collecting more
than 500 pairs.

Riley W. Coding Clubs Wagner wanted to close the gender gap in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, so she created coding clubs
for elementary school students in community centers throughout the
West Valley. Led by teens from her high school, the clubs provide an
opportunity for both boys and girls to learn to code while feeling
equally empowered.

Kendra W. Agility Leads to Reliability Wardon’s project, Agility Leads to Reliability, involved
building canine agility equipment for the Arizona Humane Society to
exercise the dogs in order to help them burn off excess energy and
increase their chances of adoption. She also created an instructional
video series “How to Train Your Dog” using the agility equipment and
included instructions on how to make each piece of equipment.

Justice W. Got Pipes? After hearing that Unified Athletes, a group of students with
special needs, was raising money for new uniforms with little success,
Williams stepped up to host a show by her á cappella club, the Perry
Pipes, to raise the funds. With the money raised, they were able to
purchase soccer shorts for all the players and inspired the principal
to buy matching jerseys.